John Kean (South Carolina)

John Kean (1756-4 May 1795) was a member of the Continental Congress from South Carolina from 1785 to 1787 and the founder of the Kean political dynasty.

Biography
John Kean was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1756, and he was raised in Beaufort County. He learned business and bookkeeping while being apprenticed to his wealthy stepfather's business partner, and he was a prominent merchant at the start of the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he served as deputy paymaster of the South Carolina militia, and he was taken prisoner during the 1780 Siege of Charleston. He developed a respiratory disease during his seven months of captivity in a British prison ship. After the war, he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787, and he served as cashier of the Bank of the United States from 1789 until his death in 1795 at the age of 39 from respiratory failure.